Japan – fee-based collection cuts combustible waste by 5,760 tons

Chofu City, a part of the Tokyo metropolis, has been charging citizens for waste disposal services since fiscal 2004. Earlier this year report Japan for Sustainability, it announced that the amount of household combustible waste collected in the first year decreased by about 5,760 tons (13 per cent) over the previous fiscal year. These figures show that the city‘‘s goal of cutting combustible waste by 5,000 tons a year has been successfully achieved.



Non-combustible waste also decreased by 4,221 tons (55 percent) over the previous fiscal year due to the institution of separate collection of plastics. The new sorting system also resulted in an increase of 6,823 tons (46 per cent) of recyclable material other than milk cartons. The total amount of waste (excluding milk cartons, hazardous waste and large household items) dropped by 3,159 tons (5 per cent) over the previous year.



The city introduced a house-to-house collection system in February 2004, and started charging for the disposal of combustible and non-combustible waste from households in April of the same year. Residents must buy garbage bags designated by the city and use them to discard their waste. The monthly cost of the bags is estimated at about 500 yen (about US$4.5) per family.



The number of illegal dumping cases also dropped by 64 (8 per cent) compared to the previous fiscal year, thanks partly to late-night and early-morning patrols carried out by city employees.



Chofu has high population turnover: about 10,000 households out of a total of 100,000 move both in and out of the city each year. This is one of the reasons why a significant number of people dispose of their waste without using the official city bags. Chofu‘‘s waste management officials consider that more time will be required to familiarize all residents with the city‘‘s waste collection system, so they intend to make further efforts to raise citizens‘‘ awareness by using warning labels, appointing advisors, and improving public relations activities